Auburn U., Auburn

Rankings

Data year Earned doctorates Full-time graduate students Total R&D expenditures Research space
Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked
2024 61 87 459 87 90.8 925
2023 64 86.4 459 90 90.3 911 145 76.3 602
2022 74 84.2 457 95 89.6 900
2021 68 85.1 447 100 89.2 908 154 74 583
2020 72 84.4 450 100 89.3 916
2019 76 83.4 447 105 88.7 914 152 74.6 589
2018 76 82.6 428 109 88.2 911
2017 67 84.6 425 113 87.6 898 145 75.2 575
2016 73 83.4 430 126 86.2 896
2015 72 83.5 426 130 85.8 898 160 72.3 570
2014
NOTES:
  • 1. See TableBuilder for the prior year data.
  • 2. Blank white cells indicate data not available, not applicable, or institution not eligible for survey.
  • 3. Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

Data

Number of earned doctorates, by trend major field of study of recipients: 2024–15
Fields 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
All fields 326 305 283 250 269 253 253 284 270 257
  Science and engineering 238 235 204 179 203 189 193 203 188 185
    Agricultural sciences and natural resources 22 15 17 21 16 24 26 24 25 21
      Agricultural sciences 11 11 11 12 8 13 13 9 12 13
      Natural resources and conservation 11 4 6 9 8 11 13 15 13 8
    Biological and biomedical sciences 40 37 28 31 37 20 27 29 30 20
      Biochemistry and biophysics 2 7 3 2 2 3 . 2 1 3
      Biology and biomedical sciences, general 13 9 6 7 14 1 9 7 8 3
      Bioinformatics, biostatistics, and computational biology . . . 2 1 . 1 . . 1
      Cellular and developmental biology, and anatomy 1 . . . 1 1 . . . .
      Ecology, evolutionary biology, and epidemiology 2 6 3 2 3 2 7 4 9 .
      Genetics and genomics 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 2 1
      Microbiology and immunology 4 2 1 2 3 4 2 2 4 2
      Molecular biology 1 . 1 1 . . 1 1 . .
      Neurobiology and neurosciences . . . . 1 . . . 1 .
      Pharmacology and toxicology 2 5 7 3 2 1 . 3 1 2
      Physiology, pathology, and cancer biology 1 . . 2 . . . . 1 2
      Biology and biomedical sciences, other 13 7 6 9 9 6 4 9 3 6
    Computer and information sciences 9 16 10 5 6 3 5 6 7 13
      Computer science 7 10 5 4 6 3 4 5 7 12
      Computer and information sciences, other 2 6 5 1 . . 1 1 . 1
    Engineering 78 91 74 51 62 65 62 65 65 61
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 5 4 . 5 2 1 3 2 3 3
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 3 3 2 3 1 1 3 3 1 2
      Chemical and petroleum engineering 9 16 13 12 6 14 12 13 12 7
      Civil, environmental, and transportation engineering 7 17 13 5 11 12 6 8 8 8
      Electrical and computer engineering 21 20 23 8 7 11 10 16 18 13
      Industrial engineering and operations research 15 6 6 6 15 12 12 9 7 6
      Materials and mining engineering 8 5 6 4 4 2 2 2 5 2
      Mechanical engineering 9 17 10 8 14 10 12 10 6 14
      Engineering, other 1 3 1 . 2 2 2 2 5 6
    Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 10 3 3 1 4 1 2 . 1 .
      Geological sciences 10 3 2 . 1 . . . . .
      Ocean, marine, and atmospheric sciences . . 1 1 3 1 2 . 1 .
    Health sciences 20 19 13 12 22 27 16 10 8 10
      Nursing science . . 3 . . . . . . .
      Pharmaceutical sciences 9 3 1 4 9 5 3 3 2 2
      Public health 1 1 1 . 2 1 2 . 1 .
      Health sciences, other 10 15 8 8 11 21 11 7 5 8
    Mathematics and statistics 10 11 11 14 14 10 8 12 9 14
      Applied mathematics . 3 4 2 1 3 3 . 2 4
      Mathematics 1 . 1 . 1 1 2 2 1 5
      Statistics 1 1 2 4 2 . 1 . 2 1
      Mathematics and statistics, other 8 7 4 8 10 6 2 10 4 4
    Physical sciences 18 18 16 18 14 17 13 16 5 4
      Astronomy and astrophysics . . 2 . . . . . . .
      Chemistry 12 12 8 12 8 14 4 6 4 3
      Physics 6 6 6 6 6 3 9 10 1 1
    Psychology 23 18 21 22 18 17 26 30 28 27
      Clinical psychology 4 5 5 7 5 5 8 6 9 8
      Counseling and applied psychology 13 11 9 7 8 7 9 10 8 10
      Research and experimental psychology 1 1 2 3 2 3 1 7 6 3
      Psychology, other 5 1 5 5 3 2 8 7 5 6
    Social sciences 8 7 11 4 10 5 8 11 10 15
      Economics 6 5 8 2 6 3 5 7 6 3
      Political science and government . . . . 3 . 1 2 2 6
      Public policy analysis 1 1 1 . . 1 1 . 2 5
      Social sciences, other 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 . 1
  Non-science and engineering 88 70 79 71 66 64 60 81 82 72
    Business 11 11 9 7 7 6 9 7 5 11
      Business 11 11 9 7 7 6 9 7 5 11
    Education 56 38 56 52 46 45 42 57 62 45
      Education leadership and administration 13 8 13 11 8 8 6 19 11 10
      Education research 18 17 16 5 14 16 24 15 23 25
      Teacher education and teaching fields 24 12 24 32 23 19 8 18 22 10
      Education, other 1 1 3 4 1 2 4 5 6 .
    Humanities and arts 9 5 7 7 6 8 5 12 11 15
      Letters 4 2 4 1 2 2 2 7 8 7
      Foreign languages and literature . . . . . . . . 1 .
      History 5 3 2 6 3 6 3 4 2 8
      Music and performing arts . . 1 . . . . . . .
      Humanities and arts, other . . . . 1 . . 1 . .
    Other non-science and engineering 12 16 7 5 7 5 4 5 4 1
      Communication 1 1 . . . . . . . .
      Public administration and social services 4 9 2 5 5 1 2 1 3 1
      Non-science and engineering, other 7 6 5 . 2 4 2 4 1 .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates

Total R&D expenditures, by field: 2024–15
(Dollars in thousands)
Field 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
  All R&D fields 393,557 349,273 304,439 266,374 255,281 231,619 212,925 190,340 152,381 135,899
    Science 220,915 194,800 170,164 150,674 150,910 140,109 128,417 110,695 103,839 92,721
      Computer and information sciences 10,193 6,337 5,174 5,127 5,006 4,368 2,653 1,799 1,331 0
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 6,447 5,277 4,791 4,008 3,460 2,690 2,171 3,820 2,633 3,461
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 250 174 72 0 62 61 78 59 112 117
        Geological and earth sciences 3,740 3,505 3,170 2,241 2,513 1,823 1,068 1,690 757 858
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 787 240 92 0 0 0 2 190 186 352
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 1,670 1,358 1,457 1,767 885 806 1,023 1,881 1,578 2,134
      Life sciences 162,201 147,192 128,578 111,491 110,768 104,935 101,567 85,135 85,307 75,745
        Agricultural sciences 91,930 81,428 83,715 70,134 72,560 54,306 55,526 47,872 58,753 56,845
        Biological and biomedical sciences 27,344 24,327 17,753 14,099 15,224 13,317 11,229 10,317 12,248 6,975
        Health sciences 26,975 27,593 14,411 15,343 10,995 28,160 26,623 20,321 6,358 9,377
        Natural resources and conservation 3,891 2,238 1,910 986 1,143 1,280 3,101 0 0 0
        Life sciences nec 12,061 11,606 10,789 10,929 10,846 7,872 5,088 6,625 7,948 2,548
      Mathematics and statistics 4,486 4,229 3,875 3,471 3,736 3,706 662 3,094 381 308
      Physical sciences 21,128 19,616 17,011 15,214 15,247 13,220 11,626 9,622 6,415 4,678
        Astronomy and astrophysics 1,808 909 500 22 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Chemistry 7,815 8,154 7,242 5,463 7,222 6,440 4,298 4,441 1,645 1,558
        Materials science 327 242 213 425 60 15 0 74 0 0
        Physics 11,132 10,216 8,907 9,147 7,842 6,710 7,303 5,107 4,767 3,120
        Physical sciences nec 46 95 149 157 123 55 25 0 3 0
      Psychology 3,523 3,763 3,848 3,137 2,824 2,457 1,871 1,572 452 390
      Social sciences 5,080 4,507 3,856 6,228 6,902 5,387 5,940 4,619 4,217 2,838
        Anthropology 8 4 134 0 1 6 5 0 2 0
        Economics 361 216 139 160 1,463 40 1,664 164 1,373 181
        Political science and government 2,206 1,742 1,678 1,640 1,543 1,661 1,115 736 521 0
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 839 658 834 721 545 359 290 46 0 13
        Social sciences nec 1,666 1,887 1,071 3,707 3,350 3,321 2,866 3,673 2,321 2,644
      Sciences nec 7,857 3,879 3,031 1,998 2,967 3,346 1,927 1,034 3,103 5,301
    Engineering 122,623 108,344 93,219 78,720 70,593 59,742 56,233 56,657 45,572 40,249
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 5,783 5,318 5,193 4,196 3,723 3,250 1,574 1,677 727 373
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 3,212 6,766 2,161 1,019 1,206 1,110 4,186 773 919 1,322
      Chemical engineering 11,454 8,194 10,044 9,320 7,466 6,733 5,858 6,198 4,749 4,749
      Civil engineering 27,968 19,353 17,821 11,869 9,482 8,655 9,515 6,998 3,142 3,973
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 13,584 9,922 9,727 10,771 9,695 9,157 6,809 5,601 4,262 5,386
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 14,679 12,639 11,603 6,100 4,338 4,593 3,103 2,196 798 0
      Mechanical engineering 23,608 19,611 18,859 21,501 19,199 12,747 10,884 10,021 6,450 4,239
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 2,981 1,579 1,176 564 522 656 2,156 456 1,207 1,175
      Engineering nec 19,354 24,962 16,635 13,380 14,962 12,841 12,148 22,737 23,318 19,032
    Non-S&E 50,019 46,129 41,056 36,980 33,778 31,768 28,275 22,988 2,970 2,929
      Business management and business administration 18,279 18,798 17,201 15,167 14,782 15,146 11,569 8,293 1,614 1,830
      Communication and communications technologies 961 1,197 1,038 992 1,018 1,024 0 0 0 0
      Education 3,943 4,525 4,232 3,968 4,190 3,649 2,441 3,173 1,299 1,065
      Humanities 6,392 7,322 6,964 6,812 7,030 7,303 4,728 5,694 57 34
      Law 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
      Social work 312 440 428 423 205 39 29 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 0 1 0 1 0 62 1,354 0 0 0
      Non-S&E nec 20,132 13,846 11,193 9,617 6,552 4,545 8,154 5,828 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Total R&D expenditures, by source of funds and R&D field: 2024
(Dollars in thousands)
Field All R&D expenditures Federal government State and local government Institution funds Business Nonprofit organizations All other sources
  All R&D fields 393,557 157,999 35,124 177,767 10,785 2,223 9,659
    Science 220,915 90,940 32,742 87,941 2,973 1,373 4,946
      Computer and information sciences 10,193 4,537 0 5,474 36 2 144
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 6,447 2,886 88 3,183 38 0 252
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 250 185 0 65 0 0 0
        Geological and earth sciences 3,740 1,059 39 2,471 38 0 133
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 787 546 29 212 0 0 0
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 1,670 1,096 20 435 0 0 119
      Life sciences 162,201 68,258 32,132 54,036 2,325 1,155 4,295
        Agricultural sciences 91,930 39,134 28,315 20,340 1,617 540 1,984
        Biological and biomedical sciences 27,344 15,711 597 9,725 296 338 677
        Health sciences 26,975 3,223 1,854 20,016 244 224 1,414
        Natural resources and conservation 3,891 2,258 0 1,406 168 33 26
        Life sciences nec 12,061 7,932 1,366 2,549 0 20 194
      Mathematics and statistics 4,486 1,047 0 3,400 0 35 4
      Physical sciences 21,128 11,077 0 9,831 115 0 105
        Astronomy and astrophysics 1,808 1,337 0 471 0 0 0
        Chemistry 7,815 3,461 0 4,275 0 0 79
        Materials science 327 242 0 85 0 0 0
        Physics 11,132 6,003 0 4,988 115 0 26
        Physical sciences nec 46 34 0 12 0 0 0
      Psychology 3,523 670 0 2,611 78 138 26
      Social sciences 5,080 1,223 519 3,149 93 24 72
        Anthropology 8 0 0 8 0 0 0
        Economics 361 30 85 246 0 0 0
        Political science and government 2,206 246 0 1,888 0 0 72
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 839 266 0 573 0 0 0
        Social sciences nec 1,666 681 434 434 93 24 0
      Sciences nec 7,857 1,242 3 6,257 288 19 48
    Engineering 122,623 61,879 1,064 51,663 3,727 840 3,450
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 5,783 2,606 0 2,943 150 0 84
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 3,212 1,731 19 1,268 184 10 0
      Chemical engineering 11,454 5,251 296 5,272 138 127 370
      Civil engineering 27,968 13,874 61 11,155 1,537 698 643
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 13,584 7,106 0 5,807 58 4 609
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 14,679 9,301 0 5,012 91 1 274
      Mechanical engineering 23,608 12,505 0 9,303 1,478 0 322
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 2,981 1,667 0 1,080 60 0 174
      Engineering nec 19,354 7,838 688 9,823 31 0 974
    Non-S&E 50,019 5,180 1,318 38,163 4,085 10 1,263
      Business management and business administration 18,279 0 0 13,970 3,652 0 657
      Communication and communications technologies 961 0 0 959 0 0 2
      Education 3,943 669 0 3,213 0 2 59
      Humanities 6,392 174 0 6,207 0 0 11
      Law 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Social work 312 13 0 299 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Non-S&E nec 20,132 4,324 1,318 13,515 433 8 534

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Federally funded R&D expenditures, by federal agency: 2024–15
(Dollars in thousands)
Source of funds 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Federal Agencies 157,999 125,783 104,883 91,157 73,468 64,333 58,488 55,700 54,751 48,352
  DOD 27,861 23,535 21,851 18,413 10,945 10,592 7,600 6,463 5,059 5,984
  DOE 10,367 6,113 6,337 6,372 5,006 3,838 3,095 2,844 2,246 2,031
  HHS 23,042 18,920 16,606 15,778 16,001 13,272 12,810 11,446 10,571 8,506
  NASA 5,866 7,446 6,286 6,492 6,019 2,616 1,636 1,583 1,275 1,731
  NSF 19,834 15,636 13,750 10,226 9,435 9,361 9,239 9,072 8,664 8,117
  USDA 44,388 31,471 20,881 18,227 12,104 10,176 11,433 10,689 10,513 11,597
  Other 26,641 22,662 19,172 15,649 13,958 14,478 12,675 13,603 16,423 10,386

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Headcount of R&D personnel: 2024–18 [temporarily discontinued]
Year
2024 . . . .
2023 . . . .
2022 . . . .
2021 . . . .
2020 . . . .
2019 4,200 1,200 3,000 .
2018 2,380 976 1,404 .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field: 2023–14
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space 2023 2021 2019 2017 2015
  All research space 453 416 389 440 355
    Agricultural sciences 109 104 91 101 99
    Biological and biomedical sciences 38 22 22 18 12
    Computer and information sciences 9 9 7 8 8
    Engineering 167 164 112 121 122
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 1 1 3 7 2
    Health sciences 17 16 49 72 51
    Mathematics and statistics 0 0 0 1 0
    Natural resources and conservation 47 48 51 53 4
    Physical sciences 51 48 50 56 53
    Psychology 12 4 4 4 4
    Social sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Other 0 0 0 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

New construction of science and engineering research space, by field and time of construction: 2025–16
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space Planned to start in FY 2024 or FY 2025 Started in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017
  All research space 14,000 65,086 32,472 94,244 2,475
    Agricultural sciences 5,000 23,814 0 94,244 0
    Biological and biomedical sciences 0 28,061 0 0 0
    Computer and information sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 9,000 0 32,472 0 0
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 0 13,211 0 0 0
    Health sciences 0 0 0 0 2,475
    Mathematics and statistics 0 0 0 0 0
    Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0
    Physical sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Psychology 0 0 0 0 0
    Social sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Other 0 0 0 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

Costs for repair and renovation of science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field and time of repair and renovation: 2025–16
(Dollars in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space Planned to start in FY 2024 or FY 2025 Started in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017
  All research space 0 0 0 0 22,388
    Agricultural sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Biological and biomedical sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Computer and information sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 0 0 0 0 16,750
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Health sciences 0 0 0 0 2,300
    Mathematics and statistics 0 0 0 0 0
    Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0
    Physical sciences 0 0 0 0 3,338
    Psychology 0 0 0 0 0
    Social sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Other 0 0 0 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

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